EU-Morocco aviation agreement: Morocco joins
Europe in the aviation field

The EU Presidency, Vice-President Jacques Barrot
and Karim Ghellab, the Moroccan Minister of Transport, have signed a new type of
aviation agreement between the European Union and Morocco. This innovative
agreement replaces all the bilateral aviation agreements between the Member
States and Morocco. It is original in that it not only opens up markets but is
also designed to approximate the legislation of the two parties. The agreement
will stimulate the growth of traffic to Morocco, and new, additional and more
varied scheduled services have already been announced.

Jacques Barrot, the European Commission Vice-President with special
responsibility for transport, said that "the agreement between Europe and
Morocco opens up new development prospects for Moroccan and European companies.
We now have an innovative text which is far superior to the conventional
open-skies agreements. This agreement will bring the respective countries closer
together, and shows us what can be achieved in the context of the
Euro-Mediterranean partnership".

The aim of the agreement is to open up the markets gradually and to
approximate the legislation of the two parties. It goes beyond the conventional
American concept of "open skies", since it comprises a number of fundamental
market regulation objectives: flight safety and security will be enhanced, and
the competition, state-aid and consumer protection rules will be harmonised.
Cross-investment between European and Moroccan companies will be possible, which
is not the case under conventional aviation agreements. The agreement also
contains several important provisions concerning environmental protection.
Lastly, the agreement provides for streamlining administrative procedures.

Passengers will also benefit from new routes, thus avoiding many of the
connecting flights now needed. In Morocco, new companies have already been set
up, and secondary airports (at present essentially dedicated to regional
traffic) will receive international flights. All this will contribute to
Morocco's objective of attracting 10 million tourists by 2010.

The removal of all capacity restrictions between the EU and Morocco is
already attracting new market entrants. Carriers have announced new services
from Frankfurt, Marseille, the UK and Spain to Marrakesh, Fez and Oujda.

The agreement also breaks new ground in that it is the first time in its
history that the European Community, acting as a regional group, has signed a
complete aviation agreement with a non-European country. On the European side,
the Finnish Presidency and representatives of the 25 Member States have signed
the agreement.

The EU-Morocco agreement precedes by a few months another Community agreement
that is in the pipeline with the USA. It replaces all the existing aviation
agreements between the Member States and Morocco, some of which date back to the
1950s.

The text can serve as reference for any other neighbouring country which
might wish to promote economic interdependence with Europe, since the Community
wishes to create a common aviation area with all its neighbours by 2010.
Contacts have already been established with a view to starting talks with other
Mediterranean countries and Ukraine.

The agreement covers the populations of Morocco and the EU, representing 31
million and 450 million inhabitants respectively. The market is growing rapidly,
by around 10 % per annum and more for some Member States.